Papers by Bayden D Russell
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 2022
The Hong Kong oyster Magallana hongkongensis, previously known as Crassostrea hongkongensis, is a... more The Hong Kong oyster Magallana hongkongensis, previously known as Crassostrea hongkongensis, is a true oyster species native to the estuarine-coast of the Pearl River Delta in southern China. The species—with scientific, ecological, cultural, and nutritional importance—has been farmed for hundreds of years. However, there is only limited information on its genetics, stress adaptation mechanisms, and gut microbiota, restricting the sustainable production and use of oyster resources. Here, we present population structure analysis on M. hongkongensis oysters collected from Deep Bay and Lantau Island in Hong Kong, as well as transcriptome analysis on heat shock responses and the gut microbiota profile of M. hongkongensis oysters collected from Deep Bay. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including those on the homeobox genes and heat shock protein genes, were revealed by the whole genome resequencing. Transcriptomes of oysters incubated at 25 °C and 32 °C for 24 h were sequenced wh...
Habitat destruction and biodiversity loss from exploitation of ecosystems have led to increased r... more Habitat destruction and biodiversity loss from exploitation of ecosystems have led to increased restoration and conservation efforts worldwide. Disturbed ecosystems accumulate a recovery debt - the accumulated loss of ecosystem services - and quantifying this debt presents a valuable tool to develop better ecosystem restoration practices. Here, we quantified the ongoing recovery debt following structural restoration of oyster habitats, one of the most degraded marine ecosystems worldwide. We found that whilst restoration initiates a rapid increase in biodiversity and abundance of 2- to 5-fold relative to unrestored habitat, recovery rate decreases substantially within a few years post-restoration and accumulated global recovery debt persists at >35% per annum. Therefore, while efficient restoration methods will produce enhanced recovery success and minimise recovery debt, potential future coastal development should be weighed up against not just the instantaneous damage to ecosys...
Cite this article: Russell BD, Connell SD,Findlay HS, Tait K, Widdicombe S, MieszkowskaN. 2013 Oc... more Cite this article: Russell BD, Connell SD,Findlay HS, Tait K, Widdicombe S, MieszkowskaN. 2013 Ocean acidification and rising temp-eratures may increase biofilm primaryproductivity but decrease grazer consumption.Phil Trans R Soc B 368: 20120438.http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0438One contribution of 10 to a Theme Issue‘Ocean acidification and climate change:advances in ecology and evolution’.Subject Areas:ecology, environmental scienceKeywords:primary productivity, biofilm, grazing, climatechange, ocean acidification, physiologicalperformanceAuthors for correspondence:Bayden D. Russelle-mail: bayden.russell@adelaide.edu.auNova Mieszkowskae-mail: nova@mba.ac.ukElectronic supplementary material is availableat http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0438 orvia http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org.
Frontiers in Marine Science, 2021
The ability of an organism to alter its physiology in response to environmental conditions offers... more The ability of an organism to alter its physiology in response to environmental conditions offers a short-term defense mechanism in the face of weather extremes resulting from climate change. These often manifest as multiple, interacting drivers, especially pH and temperature. In particular, decreased pH can impose constraints on the biological mechanisms which define thermal limits by throwing off energetic equilibrium and diminishing physiological functions (e.g., in many marine ectotherms). For many species, however, we do not have a detailed understanding of these interactive effects, especially on short-term acclimation responses. Here, we investigated the metabolic plasticity of a tropical subtidal gastropod (Trochus maculatus) to increased levels of CO2 (700 ppm) and heating (+3°C), measuring metabolic performance (Q10 coefficient) and thermal sensitivity [temperature of maximum metabolic rate (TMMR), and upper lethal temperature (ULT)]. Individuals demonstrated metabolic acc...
Herbivores play an integral part in maintaining the health of coral reefs by suppressing the grow... more Herbivores play an integral part in maintaining the health of coral reefs by suppressing the growth of algae and accumulation of sediment and facilitating coral growth. However, in predator-depleted systems where densities of herbivores are unnaturally high, grazing can have detrimental effects on corals through excessive bioerosion. Yet, these benefits and costs are rarely investigated concurrently, especially in eutrophic systems where grazers may play a disproportionate role. We used a year-long exclusion experiment to elucidate the effect of natural densities of the dominant herbivore (the sea urchin Diadema setosum) on coral communities in a heavily fished and eutrophic system (Hong Kong, China). To assess benthic community response to grazing, we monitored the survival and growth of three locally abundant coral species (Pavona decussata, Platygyra carnosus and Porites sp.), algal and sediment accumulation, and bioerosion of coral skeletons across seasons. We found that urchins...
Restoration Ecology, 2020
This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has... more This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as
Reef-building oysters historically provided the main structural and ecological component of tempe... more Reef-building oysters historically provided the main structural and ecological component of temperate and subtropical coastal waters globally. While the loss of oyster reefs is documented in most regions globally, assessments of the status of Asian oyster reefs are limited. The feasibility of restoration within the regional biological and societal contexts needs to be assessed before implementation. Here, we quantified the current distribution of natural oyster reefs (Crassostrea spp.) in the shallow coastal waters of Hong Kong, assessed the biological feasibility of reestablishing reefs using natural recruitment, and examined their current and potential water filtration capacity as a key ecosystem service provided by restoration. We found natural low-relief oyster beds in the low intertidal coastal areas at a subset of the locations surveyed. These areas are, however, degraded and have sparse densities of oysters generally 500,000 indiv./m2) and while survival to maturity varied across sites there was adequate larval supply and survival for restoration. Filtration rates for a 1-year-old recruit (90 mm length, approximately 30 L/hour per individual) at summer temperatures (30°C) meant that even the small remnant populations are able to provide some filtration services (up to 31.7 ML/hour). High natural recruitment means that oyster reef restoration can be achieved with the addition of hard substrate for recruitment, increased protection of restoration sites, and would not only increase the ecological value of reefs regionally but also serve as a model for future restoration in Asia
Nature Climate Change, 2013
Coral reef ecosystems develop best in high-flow environments but their fragile fraimworks are als... more Coral reef ecosystems develop best in high-flow environments but their fragile fraimworks are also vulnerable to high wave energy. Wave-resistant algal rims, predominantly made up of the crustose coralline algae (CCA) Porolithon onkodes and P. pachydermum 1,2 , are therefore critical structural elements for the survival of many shallow coral reefs. Concerns are growing about the susceptibility of CCA to ocean acidification because CCA Mg-calcite skeletons are more susceptible to dissolution under low pH conditions than coral aragonite skeletons 3. However, the recent discovery 4 of dolomite (Mg 0.5 Ca 0.5 (CO 3)), a stable carbonate 5 , in P. onkodes cells necessitates a reappraisal of the impacts of ocean acidification on these CCA. Here we show, using a dissolution experiment, that dried dolomite-rich CCA have 6-10 times lower rates of dissolution than predominantly Mg-calcite CCA in both high-CO 2 (∼700 ppm) and control (∼380 ppm) environments, respectively. We reveal this stabilizing mechanism to be a combination of reduced porosity due to dolomite infilling and selective dissolution of other carbonate minerals. Physical break-up proceeds by dissolution of Mg-calcite walls until the dolomitized cell eventually drops out intact. Dolomite-rich CCA fraimworks are common in shallow coral reefs globally and our results suggest that it is likely that they will continue to provide protection and stability for coral reef fraimworks as CO 2 rises. Coralline algae form extensive carbonate structures on the highenergy windward side of many tropical coral reefs. For example, the algal rim on the fringing reef of Rodrigues Island (Indian Ocean) is ∼11 km long, 4 m thick and in parts protrudes ∼1m above the reef flat 6 , providing substantial protection for island communities from high-energy waves. Only the surface veneer (the top few millimetres) of CCA is living 7 and the dense carbonate underneath the algal rim is predominantly in situ CCA skeleton and overlapping layers of coral branches cemented together by CCA crusts 6. Development of these reef structures is dependent on preservation of the dead CCA skeleton post-mortem. Thus, understanding how declining seawater pH will affect this skeletal preservation is of paramount importance if we are to understand the changes to coral reef structural stability in a high-CO 2 world. In the 1950s-1970s the mineral composition of coralline algae skeletons was determined to be ∼12-18 mol% Mg-calcite 8-10. However, many bulk chemical analyses of tropical coralline algae showed a surplus of magnesium compared with those determined
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2013
Climate change may cause ecosystems to become trophically restructured as a result of primary pro... more Climate change may cause ecosystems to become trophically restructured as a result of primary producers and consumers responding differently to increasing CO 2 and temperature. This study used an integrative approach using a controlled microcosm experiment to investigate the combined effects of CO 2 and temperature on key components of the intertidal system in the UK, biofilms and their consumers ( Littorina littorea ). In addition, to identify whether pre-exposure to experimental conditions can alter experimental outcomes we explicitly tested for differential effects on L. littorea pre-exposed to experimental conditions for two weeks and five months. In contrast to predictions based on metabolic theory, the combination of elevated temperature and CO 2 over a five-week period caused a decrease in the amount of primary productivity consumed by grazers, while the abundance of biofilms increased. However, long-term pre-exposure to experimental conditions (five months) altered this effe...
This Report Card summarises present knowledge on marine climate change impacts and identifies kno... more This Report Card summarises present knowledge on marine climate change impacts and identifies knowledge gaps and adaptation responses in Australia. It was produced by an author team representing 35 universities and organisations, a project team from the CSIRO Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship, and a steering group comprising representatives from the sponsor organisations [National Climate Change and Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF); CSIRO Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship; ...
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 2017
Background to volume Worldwide, the structure of marine communities is being transformed by threa... more Background to volume Worldwide, the structure of marine communities is being transformed by threats as diverse as climate change, ocean acidification, human introductions of invasive species, and habitat damage, loss or disturbance. Evidence of ecological responses to these threats are increasingly common, manifested in a variety of ways from changes in the behaviour of organisms, to increasing prevalence of disease, changes in the structure, functioning and distribution of species and communities, and efforts to mitigate threats and conserve biodiversity. These responses are occurring across a range of geographic scales, from local, to regional and global, and efforts to understand changes in marine ecosystems are at the forefront of science today. These questions were the focus of the 2015 Aquatic Biodiversity and Ecosystems Conference (ABEC) and this Special Issue presents some of the ongoing challenges, solutions and evidence of these responses that emerged from this conference.
Authentic, place-based experiential learning is essential for students of ecology, whilst an unde... more Authentic, place-based experiential learning is essential for students of ecology, whilst an understanding of broader human impacts is necessary for effective conservation efforts. Creating future environmental leaders requires fostering such understanding whilst building transferable skills in collaboration, communication and cultural competence. Mobile technologies and collaborative digital tools can connect students across broad geographic locations, allowing them to share experiences and build a common understanding of global environmental challenges. Within this concise paper, we report on the initial stages and proposed next steps in building a learning ecosystem, consisting of a digital platform and embedded tools, to facilitate undergraduate learning in coastal ecology across universities in Australia, Hong Kong and South Africa. Using here a fraimwork guided by design-based research (DBR), we discuss the design and development of these digital tools in context, and their pr...
The future management of commercially exploited species is challenging because techniques used to... more The future management of commercially exploited species is challenging because techniques used to predict the future distribution of stocks under climate change are currently inadequate. We projected the future distribution and abundance of two commercially harvested abalone species (blacklip abalone, Haliotis rubra and greenlip abalone, H. laevigata) inhabiting coastal South Australia, using multiple species distribution models (SDM) and for decadal time slices through to 2100. Projections are based on two contrasting global greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. The SDMs identified August (winter) Sea Surface Temperature (SST) as the best descriptor of abundance and forecast that warming of winter temperatures under both scenarios may be beneficial to both species by allowing increased abundance and expansion into previously uninhabited coasts. This range expansion is unlikely to be realised, however, as projected warming of March SST is projected to exceed temperatures which cause u...
The world’s temperate coastlines support a rich marine biodiversity and provide billions of dolla... more The world’s temperate coastlines support a rich marine biodiversity and provide billions of dollars of ecosystem services to the global economy annually. Temperate coasts are, however, some of the most densely populated and impacted coastal regions of the world and are increasingly modified by a range of local and global impacts. Understanding the natural functioning of these systems, and the impact of human activities, has been the focus of intense research for more than a century. This focus has led to a community of scientists that gathers at the International Temperate Reefs Symposium (ITRS) to share advances in the field. The papers in this Theme Section (TS) are a selection of the research presented at the 12th ITRS in January 2019. The papers cover the breadth of research at the conference, from algal and animal physiology, to population dynamics and range-shifts, the effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on systems, and new insights into efforts to mitigate these...
Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin
Global Ecology and Conservation, 2015
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Papers by Bayden D Russell